Bleak-Part 1
by notjustarandomgirl
Summary: One town- Two organizations-Three Gods.


Prologue  
Pain. It is all that I feel right now. It is stabbing me all over, like a million needles stuck inside of me. But it is neither physical nor mental; it is the pain of hundreds dying outside that i feel. I want to stop writing, but my mind is not answering to me. It is being controlled by someone else, and that someone is making me write my death.  
But what that someone doesn't know is that I can't die. Oh, I'll be dead, but not like they would imagine. My fate may be cruel, but this last card of mine will ensure that I get my revenge. And I will. Soon.  
The pain, again. But it is not the type of pain at makes me scream out. It's different.  
You see, I am Death.

Chapter 1 : Chloe.

" Caleb!" Iris shouted behind her back and giggled. Caleb grinned and ran behind her. Her blonde curls bounced and her off white summer dress flapped against the wind. She had gotten very fast.  
" Caleb!" She called again and turned. This time, Caleb saw her face completely. The wide blue eyes, The small nose, whole lips, the tan skin. She was grinning like anything." You've gotten slow!"  
"No, you've just gotten fast!" Caleb shouted back and stopped running. The long grass underneath his feet swayed and the wind urged him to run more. Iris stopped too.  
" I think we should go back." Caleb said and glanced behind him. They had run a long way and their mansion, surrounded my huge walls, was a long distance away. Caleb looked ahead. There was only forest ahead of them.  
" Let's just explore the forest for a little while." Iris insisted." We have plenty of time."  
Iris looked hopefully at Caleb, who couldn't help agreeing.  
" Okay, but we head back before it gets dark." Caleb warned. Iris nodded happily and headed into the forest. Caleb followed.  
The forest was dark and cool, with sunlight streaming in through the thick cluster of trees. Caleb and Iris trekked deep into the forest. They stopped at an old stream.  
" Let's head back, shall we?" Caleb suggested and looked around. He was starting to get a strange feeling. Iris shook her head.  
" Please. Let's go a bit further." She insisted.  
Caleb finally gave in. They crossed the stream and had gone a few steps ahead when Caleb suddenly found himself getting sucked into the ground. he tried to struggle but it was of no use. he was stuck in a bog.  
" What's happening, Caleb?" Iris shrieked in panic." What should I do?"  
"Okay, calm down first." Caleb instructed her, and she stopped flapping her hands." Now, go find something to pull me out. Go now!" iris nodded, panicked. She ran into the trees and out of sight. Caleb waited. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Then half and hour. The bog was nearly up to his chin now. Caleb was now starting to panic as well. Where was Iris? She should've been back by now. Caleb saw a shadow of a man in front of him before the bog swallowed him whole and he passed out.

" 15 years old Caleb Cage and his sister, 14 years old Iris Cage have been reported missing for three days. They were last seen going into the forest north of their mansion, where they lived with their parents, businessman Robbie and his wife, Celine Cage. Robbie is the great-grandson of the founder of Cagestone town. Police have searched for both children but there is no trace found of them found as yet. The police also have ..."  
Chloe turned the television off. It was always bad news on the T.V these days. And the dissappearances in thw town of Cagestone were now getting common. First to go were Jade and her twin brother Lance Howey. Then it was Agnes Lloyd. After a few weeks, Rodney and Hugo, along with Zoe, had vapourised behind the school building. And now the Cage kids. It was depressing, really, to watch the police search for the kids desperately and families hiding away inside, scared that they would be next. And Cagestone was such a small town, situated in the middle of mountains, with forests on every side in West Virginia. None noticed anything. And the people who lived here were isolated from the rest of the world. Noone thought of going further away from the comfort the small place. There was a Cagestone high School, where Chloe High School, people usually settled here. but not chloe. She planned on escaping from this boring, secluded town to somewhere with more action. Like New York.  
the other person who agreed with her was Gordon. And he wasn't afraId to come out these days while everyone trembled inside their homes. he didn't care, and neither did Chloe. If she dissapeared, atleast that would bring some drama.  
And if everyone was home, it meant Chloe could go out without attracting looks. ever since Gordon and her had become friends, people assumed she was the same the same as him. But it wasn't his fault that he looked like he was planning something in his mind. Something evil.  
He may be a troublemaker, and he looked like it too with overgrown messy hair and misty blue eyes that glinted with mischief but he was an orphan, just like Chloe. And they both lived with Mrs. Ray, who had taken them in and the howey twins whent ehy ahd been babies. She was a really old lady on the brink of death, and had been the nurse when all four of them had been born at Cagestone Hospital.  
Right now, Chloe had the whole house to herself. was at her usual baking class( though why she gave a damn of baking, when she was about to die, Chloe didn't know).Gordon was out doing something again and the Howey twins had dissapeared. Chloe missed the twins. They were so nice; Jade's temper and Lance's cool attitude made so opposite of each other, yet they balanced each other out perfectly.  
Mrs ray might be old, but she was a hell of a cook. Chloe opened the refrigerator, grabbed a homemade pizza and a coke and went upstairs to her room. It was the smallest, the size of a cupboard. Mrs. ray had managed to squeeze in a single bed, a table with a shelf and a chair plus a wardrobe so there was hardly any room to swing a cat.  
She climbed into the bed and started on the pizza. It was raining outside." Poor Gord." Chloe thought, looking out of the window." Wish this rain would stop." As if hearing her, the rains topped abruptly and the sun began to shine.  
" Man, my luck is good today." Chloe said to gobbled up the pizza, drank the coke in two takes and decide to go out.  
" Don't event hink of it." A voice from behind her said just as she reached the door. turning, she saw glaring at her over her glasses.  
"Ummm... you're back!" Chloe attempted to smile.  
" Yes, I am. And you thought you'd sneak out behind my back? well, think again. Go to your room, young lady." furrowed her eyebrows.  
" But Gordon..." Chloe stammered.  
" Never mind him. He's a boy. But I want you to stay inside. After what happened to Lance and Jade..." stopped.  
Chloe without replying, went upstairs. In her room, she layed on her bead, fuming.  
She dozed off, and suddenly, she founf herself in a street. The sky was red, the sun gone. Everything was silent. Chloe looked around and saw, to her horror, that it was Cagestone's market, and there were dead bodies lying everywhere. The scene was horrrible, but what made Chloe scream was the sight of her frineds bleeding to death.  
There was a slight noise, and Chloe turned. She saw, a mile away, a figure heading towards her. Chloe didn't know who it was, but the sight of him made her skin crawl. She hurriedly backed away, but something snapped uinderneath her and she fell to the ground with a loud thump that echoed in the empty streets. Chloe turned her face and found herself nose to nose with the decaying face of .  
" Stop him. Before this happens." Mrs. Ray rasped. And Chloe woke up, screaming and thrashing around in bed.  
After that, Chloe's whole life changed.

Chapter 2: The tests.  
When he woke up, caleb found himself in an unknown room.  
it was empty. There was no furniture, no carpets, no windows. Just an empty, square room. It was lifeless, yet Caleb felt that there someone else there apart from him. He felt himself suffocate in the room. He tried to get up, but it felt as if all of his energy had been drained out of him but it felt as if all of his energy had been drained out of him  
The door opened, and an old man with steel- grey hair and eyes entered, followed by a woman in a pantsuit, who was young but had the same hair and eyes. The old man walked briskly towards caleb, who stopped struggling.  
" Caleb Cage?" The old man asked.  
" Where am I? Who are you people?" Caleb shoued and struggled.  
" It's no use struggling. The Room of Souls was designed to entrap, and it does nothing except that." The old man said calmly.  
" Bullshit!" Caleb said, but he stopped struggling.  
" zNow, to answer your questions. You are at Hive. It is an organization, founded by Edward Carter the First. It is very old and that is all that you need to know. As to your second question, I am Jeb Carter, Edward's great grandson, and I am known as the Fourth. This," he turned to the woman.", is my daughter, Valerie."  
"What? this is crazy, man. Let me go" Caleb said.  
" And how do you explain your powers?" Jeb turned stern." Hive takes special kids like you and train them. You have special powers. You are different from the rest of the mankind. You have been given a gift, and we will show you how to control them and use them for good. but while you are untrained, you are a danger to the rest of the people. Until you are trained you will remain with others like you at a separated home. " Jeb ended. There was a long pause, and Caleb for a second, believed the man.  
" But we still have to test you. You will have to pass three tests. The first will test your survival skills. The second, your abiulity to follow orders and the third your loyalty to Hive. Valerie will instruct you on your first test." After pausing, he added." Don't dissapoint me." sternly, turned and went out.  
" It is said," Valerie spoke up." that if a person is left in the dark for too long, he ceases to be human." She crosses her arms." I guess you have a right to know. " She sighed." You see, jeb is very old. And he needs someone to take over. We've observed you for a while and Jeb thinks you're reliable enough. So now that you know how much responsiblity you have, so" She stopped at the door." try not to die in here." She went out, leaving Caleb in pitch black. For a moment, everything was silent.  
Suddenly, a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed Caleb's throat.

Chloe was walking towards the forest behind 's house when she met Gordon.  
She had sneaked out as soon as the first of 's snores echoed into her room. It was dark; Cagestone darkened by 7 and the people were in bed by 9. Right now, it was 11. Chloe knew where gordon was,and sure enough, she found him sitting on the log at the old creek in the forest. He had his head between his hands and didn't notice her.  
" Hey, gord." Chloe said. Gordon looked up.  
" What are you doing up so late? There are wolves in the forest who eat little girls when they are not in bed." Gordon smirked.  
Chloe just giggled and sat next to him on the log.  
" So, what were you thinking?" Chloe asked.  
" I'm thinking about the time when you and I will finally be free and get out of this hellhole." Gordon said." We'll go someplace where we can live in peace, without anyone calling us weird."  
" yeah." Chloe sighed." It's going to take a long time though." She turned to look at Gordon, and once more, her heart did somersaults. In the dark, lighted up only by the moonlight, he looked normal for once, without that develish grin plastered on his face.  
Suddenly something rustled in the bushes behind them. Gordon, without looking back, sighed.  
" Now listen. I ahve to tell you something important." He glared at the bush." You know the kids who dissapeared?"  
Chloe nodded, confused.  
" All of them? Lance, Jade, Zoe, Agnes, Rodney, Hugo... all of them were orphans, except for Caleb and Iris. " he looked at the bush again.  
" They were...what?" Chloe repeated.  
" Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that. Be ..."He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them."Try not to disspaear."  
There was a long pause.  
" What do you mean, try not to dissapear?" Chloe demanded.  
" Just go home and be careful. I'll come in just a minute." Gordon pushed her.  
Chloe got up and walked down the hill thorugh the forest towards the house. She turned for amoment and looked at Gordon. He was again looking at the bush.  
-" I will say this one last time." The man warned." Jump off the cliff."  
" Are you crazy?" Jade screamed at him as the sound of burning cackled." Are you out of you goddamn mind? Why would I jump off this cliff..." She meekly peaked downt he edge."... into a sea of...fire?"  
"Please, ma'am, I'm only following instructions. You have to jump into this sea of fire to pass the second test and get to the third test" The man insisted.  
"Jade, calm down." Lance tried to soothe JAde, who ignored him.  
" Where on earth am I suppose to give the third test? Afterlife? Now, stop folling around..." She grabbed the poor man by his beard and stabbed a finger at his chest." Or I'll tear you apart. All that time in the dark has grown an animal in me."  
-Theodore sighed dejectedly. the girl in front of him was angry as hell. Theodore wondered what her special ability was." Probably driving people insane." Theodore nodded in agreement to himself.  
He never should've gotten this job." oh, but wait." Theodore thought glumly." I never got this job. I wAS given it."  
It had happened on a Sunday afternoon. Back then, Theodore had been a red bearded, bald proffessor who lived with his mother. He had been sitting in the living room, thinking of maths sums, algorithms and god-knows-what, when the woman in the grey pantsuit had wlaked in.  
At first, he had been surprised and had threatened to call the police. but then he had listened to what the woman had to say. Aftre she had broken his nose.  
"You've gotten yourself a job." was all the evil witch had said and had zapped Theodore to an unknown place, standing on a cliff with a curious sea of flames, telling his former ( now superheroes)  
students to jump off the cliff. Some had followed his orders, and had gone off to the tird test ( which Theodore was sure was in the afterlife) but some had refused and the pantsuit woman ad shown up and had dissapeared with the unlucky kids.  
" Hey mister!" the girl shouted at him. Theodore came out of his daydreama dn eyed the girl tiredly." Please, just take a leap of faith." he looked beseechingly at the boy, who understood.  
" Jade, look." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked directly at her." We can't go back to Cagestone. We can't go back to and Gordon and Chloe and school. If this man says it's okay to jump then we do. We trust. Do you trust me?"  
the girl, Jade nodded." But lance..."  
"I know you will be angry at me later on, sos orry." Lance shrugged and pushed Jade from the edge of the c fell down, screaming, before the flames hungrily engulfed her whole.  
Lance nodded at Theodore and followed his sister.

Chapter 3: Gone  
Chloe was next. she knew it. She and Gordon were the only orphans left in cagestone, meaning that theyw ere surely next.  
Chloe frowned when she thougt of Gordon. he had been acting so strange, almost as if someone was watching them, and he knew who it was. And then the way he had been looking at the bush. Chloe decided there was more to Gordon than what met the eye.  
but Chloe had herself to worry about. To take her mind off all of this, she took her school books out and began reading a random chapter. It was about octopus hunting.  
" That very quality of the octopus that most horrifies the imagination, its relentless tenacity, becomes its undoing when hungry man steps into the picture."  
Gordon's voice echoed in head: Try not to dissapear.  
" The Gilbertese happen to value certain parts of it as food, and their method of fighting is coolly based upon the one fact that its arms never change their grip."  
Noone would miss her if she dissapeared. None cared about her.  
"... they hunt in pairs. One acts as bait, his partner as the killer."  
Anyway, she had no living relative that she knew of.  
"...his teeth his only weapon. He plunges his teeth between the bulging eyes and bites down with all his strength."  
Dissapearing would definitely bring some change. Chloe suddenly realized that she wanted to dissapear.  
"...teeth his only weapon.."  
Shew wanted to dissapear..  
"..his only weapon.."  
..dissapear..  
"..weapon.."  
And suddenly, Chloe found herself sitting on a bench, in a beautiful park. It was deserted, and the only sound was the chirping of birds and the distant sound of running water.  
" Isn't it wonderful?' A voice started. Chloe jumped startled. A man, about 23, was sitting next to her.  
" Sorry to startle you." The man apologized. Chloe blinked." Where am i?" She asked.  
"nowhere. this is merely your thoughts." The man answered vaguely." As I was saying, it's wonderful how everything goes in an order, no? everything has a purpose in life, and a routine that they follow. But.." The man waved his hand. The sun dissapeared, leaving everything in darkness. The trees shrivelled up, the grass drooped and everything began to die.  
" If, say, the sun didn't follow its routine, this is what would happen." The young manwaved his hand again. The sun resumed shining and the grass and trees came back to life again.  
" So, what does this tell you?" The man turned towards Chloe, who noticed that his eyes were the same colour of Gordon's. A misty blue colour.  
" That the sun is very important?" Chloe guessed.  
" No. What this tells us is that if one single thing is moved, it affects the future. Actions have consequences. Changng one thing, changes hundreds, in turn. The sun is one thing. big, but one. Imagine what would happen if several events were changed? What if someone could change everyone's future by changing one event?"  
Chloe was silent.  
" I had a dream..." She started.  
" Exactly!" The man interupted." The apocalypse one is exactly what I'm talking about"  
" how do you know that?" Chloe asked surprised.  
" I put it there." The man smiled." Chloe, you are special."  
" What?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.  
"you'll find out later on. but I have to tell you something important. You- and two others- are the key."  
"Key to what?"  
Uncountable power." He answered hoarsely." Remember, one will be bad. One will be bad" he repeated urgently.  
And suddenly, Chloe found herself in another place. a small dark room. A woman in a pantsuit stood in front of her. At the sight of Chloe, her eyes widened.  
"Well, well." She said." Chloe Phillips. This is a surprise."  
Chapter 4: The past

Agnes flipped her hair away from her face as she landed on her knees. The man behind her stood motionless for a second, and then slowly divided in three quarters. Agnes got up and dusted her jeans.  
Someone clapped behind her. Turning, Agnes saw that it was Valerie.  
"very good." Valerie was clearly impressed." You've passed all three tests." Pausing, she added " That wasn't your real father..."  
" I know. He has already been killed in front of me. Doing it again isn't a problem." Agnes said coldly.  
"Well," Valerie said" Follow me then."  
She led Agnes into a room with clothes layed out.  
Agnes had a long bath. As she lay in the tub, her mind wandered back to Hugo.  
Agnes had never been close to her family. They were part of a clan. A really ancient one. They were, and there was no better word for it, assassins. Agnes' parents had been killed because they had helped an enemy and that was all that she had been told.  
The clan's leader, Ian Lee, had trained Agnes personally. It was very rare that Ian took a liking to a student and train him/her personally. But Agnes, to him, was special and she was. AGnes' reflexes were unlike anyone else's. She could hear a pin drop hundreds of miles away easily, and could see the tiniest bug.  
But then came Hugo. he was just like Agnes, and they were always competitive on everything. They were both students of Ian lee, which meant both tried to win Ian's favour.  
And one night, Agnes had caught hugo escaping.  
" There's no life in this." hugo had replied when Agnes had inquired." I'm going somewhere where there's no murder. no killing. no blood. There's no life in this." Agnes had let him go, partly because she couldn't stop him, but mostly because he was right.  
When Ian and the others had found Agnes and the missin g Hugo, they tortured her to the brink of death. She still had the scars on her back from the whipping. When she had fainted, they left her at the doorsteps of a house. Those people had been kind to her, taken her in, had given her a new name, Agnes Lloyd.  
But Agnes was going to find Hugo one day. She didn't know why, but she knew that he was the reason her life had changed. She wanted to know what happened to him.  
She came out of the bathroom and put on the new clothes. after she dried her hair, Valerie came in.  
" Come on. Time to meet your new family." She smiled.

Chapter 5: New Family

After passing the third test, Rodney was led into a big hall which was empty except for a dozen people. The man who was with Rodney led him towards a small group in a corner. They were six teenagers and a grown-up. Rodney was surprised to see that he knew all of the six people.  
There was Caleb, tall, good looking yet quiet. He never said alot, but was still popular in school. He and his sister, Iris, were the children of the grandson of the founder of Cagestone, and were the richest kids in town. Sitting next to him was Agnes. Pale, drawn and thinner than a stick, her straight red hair were always in her eyes. A permanent scowl decorated her was also always quiet, but people at school usually kept clear of her.  
Jade and Zoe were talking and giggling. Both were blonde, both were pretty and both were cheerleaders. So naturally, both were popular. Yet, Jade's twin brother, Lance, was the calm and cool computer whiz. He was talking to the other man, a fat man with a face like a bull dog's. He looked happy and jolly. he reminded Rodney of an African American Santa Claus.  
" Is this the last one?" He asked. The man with Rodney shook his head.  
" No. Trinity told me they found another one." The man lowered his voice." They're saying she's one of the three! Can you believe it, Sam?"  
Sam's eyes widened." What the..."  
"Ah, here she is!" The man said. A plump woman and a girl came towards them.  
The girl who came with Trinity made Rodney widen his eyes in disbelief. Of all the people in Cagestone, Fate had chosen Chloe Phillips to come.  
She was Gordon's friend, and that was enough. For some weird reason, all the girls had a crush on Gordon, even though he was the biggest troublemaker Cagestone had ever seen. And just because she was Gordon's best friend, all the girls hated her. There was nothing wrong with Chloe though; Rodney thought she was reasonably pretty. Beautiful even. Her long chocolate brown hair were tied in a ponytail, and her dark eyes were wide with a mixture of confusion and fear.  
" She's the last one. You guys can go now" Trinity panted.  
"Thanks, Trinity. Bruce, see you." Sam led the group outside. Rodney was surprised to see that the moment they stepped outside the door, they were in a completely different place. The door thorugh which they had entered had dissapeared.  
They were in a completely different place. The door through which they had entered had were facing an open field, and in the middle of it was a huge villa with a swimming pool.  
"Well, in you go!" Sam said cheerfully and led them inside.  
"Now, kitchen's there. Tv lounge's there. That room is mine. You can divide the four rooms between yourselves. Two of the boys can share, one can have his own. Zoe and Jade can share and Agnes and Chloe can share. Now," He clapped his hands loudly." Let's start introduction, shall we? I'm Sam, and I'm going to teach you for the next two 't expect me to be a very good teacher. I'm not, okay?" Sam frowned at them. They nodded.  
"Where are we, anyway?" Zoe pipped up.  
" That my dear, is surely the question." Sam smirked at their horror stricken faces." I'm joking. You're some miles away from Cagestone. You guys are the only special kids in this area. "  
"Are there more like us?" Lance asked curiously.  
" not in this area, no. but there are more like you. People who have powers that are beyond what a simple human being can do. We don't know how we got them, but they are there and they can be dangerous. Hive was found by a person similiar to us, and he vowed to help all people like us find a life where we could help others, not harm."  
There was a moment's silence.  
" Anyway, after the two years' training, you'll be sent to another country for another two years, where you will teach kids like you. I'm from London, you know. I came here, liked the place, and stayed on to teach. But you have a choice. You can either stay at Hive doing a job, or you can go live with normal people agan. But you can be called by Hive any time. That's the catch.  
Now, I want you to show me what you can do. Follow me." He led them outside.  
Outside, at the back of the house, there was a huge garden.  
"You." He pointed at Caleb." Show me your mojo."  
Uncertain, Caleb stepped forward and concentrated on a cat lying in the garden, licking her paws. For A moment, nothing happened.  
Then, as if an invisible force was choking it, the cat rolled around in pain and let out a pitchy scream, and its eyes started to bleed. Suddenly, caleb closed his eyes, as if along with the cat, he felt pain too. The cat stopped screaming. It was clearly dead.  
"That was... good." Sam said, his eyes wide. Caleb stepped back.  
" Now, rodney?"  
Rodney stepped forward, closed his eyes and spread his hands out. he concntrated, looking for the fire that he knew was always there, just waiting to be called upon. After a second, he heard the girls scream in unison. Apparently, his job was done. He opened his eyes, grinning. His whole body was on fire, but it didn't harm him.  
" I can make fireworks come out of your rear end too..." he offered.  
"No, just turn back." Sam said hastily. grumbling, Rodney turned back to normal.  
"Lance?"  
"It's not something I can show." Lance said uneasily. Rodney chortled." What do you have, big giant nut on fire?"  
"No, but yours will be, if you don't shut up." Lance said, as everyone sniggered.  
"I can control machines, you see." Lance said to sam, and suddenly, Sam's cellphone jumped out from his pocket and tap-danced on his shoulder. Then it went back into his pocket.  
" And since Jade and i are twins, she can do it too." Jade nodded in agreement.  
"And Zoe?" Sam asked.  
"uh, I can turn into animals." Suddenly, she shrunk and in her place, stood a guinea pig.  
" Aww..cute." Rodney murmured.  
The guinea pig turned back into Zoe, who glared at Rodney.  
"Agnes?"  
"Reflexes." She replied shortly.  
"Aren't you gonna?..'  
'No.' Agnes cut in, her face set.  
'o...kayyy." Sam turned towards chloe." And Chloe?"  
'I don't know what my powers are." Chloe replied in a small voice.  
"Come on. There must be something." Sam insisted.  
"Well..." Chloe hesitated." I know beforehand when someone is giong to die..."

Chapter 6: The Enemy

Luke didn't have a last name.  
He didn't have a family, siblings, relatives, friends. But when you were the second-in-command of an organization as powerful as RDR, you didn't need them.  
Not the most powerful, luke remided himself as he headed down the corridor towards the door at the end. Hive was now powerful too. Which brought Luke back tot he reason Rex had called him.  
Rex, just like Luke, had no last name. He was only known as Rex. Or Master.  
Luke knocked on the door, but it opened before his hand touched it.  
Luke went inside.  
"you called me, Master?"He said to the back of the armchair.  
"Yes." A voice, old and cracked, said." Go to Hive. Get her."  
"of course." Luke smiled.  
"Typical." He thought as he went out.  
On the way, he knocked on a door. From inside, a boy and a girl emerged.  
"Iris. Hugo. I've got a job for both of you." He said. Inside, he smiled." Things are gonna get a whole lot more interesting." He muttered.  
Luke was also called Chaos.

Chapter 7: Back

"Go,go,go!" Agnes shouted at rodney, who swiftly ran towards Caleb, who was standing at the other end of the ground.  
"Come on, baby. Come on." Caleb muttered, getting ready for impact.  
When Rodney was only inches away from him, something burst in front of him  
A polka-dotted log.  
Rodney tried to stop in alarm but it was too late. his sneaker caught in the log and he fell over the wide eye caleb standing in front of him. And accidently, Rodney kissed Caleb.  
"eughhhh!"Caleb spat on the ground in disgust.  
"I told you to hit him, not smooch him, you idiot." Agnes murmured as she helped Rodney up.  
"I'm telling you, that log ain't no log." Rodney narrowed his eyes at the funny log.  
"Yeah, Sherlock. Let's get inside." Caleb pushed him.  
When they got inside, they found Chloe, Jade and Zoe giggling over breakfast. At the sight of the three messy and grungy, not to mention highly irritated people, Zoe wrinkled her nose.  
"What, you guys rolled in dog shit for training or what?" She said. Chloe and Jade giggled.  
"yeah, Zoe. Polka dotted logs. Hilarious." Rodney pointed at Zoe's shirt, which was polka dotted. Zoe laughed.  
"Co-incidence." her eyes widened mockingly." Anyway, it was all Lance's idea. he's in his room." Hearing that, Rodney bolted towards Lance's room.  
After finishing breakfast, Sam came and said." Alright, I'm going to Hive. You guys can come later. I'm already running late for the meeting." He said and opened the backdoor to the headquarters.  
Chloe and Caleb went to Lance's room. There, they found both Lance and Rodney standing face to face with their fists out, faces screwed up with concentration.  
"What are you guys doing?" Chloe asked.  
"We're going to solve this problem the men's way." LAnce replied without looking up.  
"You guys gonna fight? better do it outside.." Chloe started.  
"Not fight." Rodney looked at her, shocked." We'r going to do it with rock-paper-scissors."  
Chloe's jaw fell to the floor.  
"Don't worry." Caleb laughed as he patted her." Not all men are like these men."  
Zoe pocked her head thorugh the door." Come on. We gotta go."  
They followed her out.

Their house's backdoor was directly connected to Hive's headquarters. Even though they were thousands of miles apart ( the headquarters were in the Sahara Desert or somewhere), the door was some sort of transportation device that led them straight into Hive. All the houses with hive kids were connected like this.  
"Alright, let's go." Chloe said as soon as Lance finished breakfast. One by one,they went thorugh the transporting door, and came out at the same hall where they had met, except this time, it was crowded.  
There were alot of people, some children like them, some foreign people. Japenese, Russian, Indian, French,... it was like half the world was squeezed in there. There was alot of noise too. Brain wrecking noise. people shouting, talking and laughing, all drowned by a loud, trumpet like sound that went off at intervals. It sounded like some sort of bell.  
"How the hell are we going to find a place to sit here?" Rodney craned his neck over the crowd.  
" Here." Caleb led them towards some chairs and a table. They sat there and waited for Sam.  
While waiting, Chloe, Zoe and Jade started talking, while Agnes listened on. The guys had gotten along on the first day, but the girls took longer. Especially since it was Chloe Phillips, Zoe and Jade found it hard getting along with her, and Agnes was..well, Agnes. But after five months, Zoe and Jade agreed that Chloe was nothing if not cool. And Agnes was a good listener.  
They were giggling, when suddenly, everyone went silent. Even the trumpet stopped. Everyone was looking towards the main door.  
"What is it?" Lance whispered. Caleb shrugged.  
Suddenly the crowd parted, leaving space for three teenagers, their age. One was an Asian boy with startingly black eyes and a scar running down one side of his face. The other was a blonde girl with blue eyes and olive skin. At the sight of her, Caleb gasped slightly. It was iris.  
But the others didn't notice. Their gaze was drawn towards the third boy, who was clearly the leader. his blonde hair were messy and overgrown, swept over to one side carelessly. He was calm, and his whole demeanor reminded Chloe so much of Gordon. He also had Gordon's eyes, a misty blue colour. Chloe realized they were the same as he man in her dreams too. it confused her. The boy had a coolness around that made others feel uncomfortable.  
His eyes wandered around the silent crowd, stopping at Chloe. He looked at her from top to bottom, then smiled.  
he inclined his head towards the left, gesturing the other two to folow. They stopped at Jeb's office, whose door swung open on its own accord.  
Even after they were gone, Chloe found it hard to breath. She would never forget how those blue eyes looked at her. Like a lion looking at a deer before killing it.

Chapter 8: The uninvited guest  
Jeb's office had turned into a conference room. There was a long mahogany table in the centre, with chairs that were filled with people. At one end of the table, sat Jeb. The seat at the other end was empty.  
The people were talking among themselves whent he door slid open and three young people entered. Jeb got up.  
One of them, a boy with blonde messy hair, pulled out the empty chair and sat on it, resting his legs on the table. The rest of the people fidgeted in their seats and looked from the boy to Jeb and back again.  
Noticing Jeb's glare, the boy made a peace sign and said." Yo."  
Jeb's forehead wrinkled." Who are you?"  
The boy opened his shirt. On his chest, there was a tattoo.  
:RDR." Jeb narrowed his eyes. " How did you find us? And how is Rex?"  
The boy grinned and buttoned his shirt." It wasn't easy finding you guys. Took us 5 months and a lot of wasted time and energy. But we managed in the end. This place's security isn't as foolproof as you thought." The boy's smile widened.  
"You haven't answered my second question." Jeb said, his tone flat.  
"Rex? He's fine. Getting on in his years, I'm got something to eat?" He asked suddenly.  
Jeb ignored him." From the way you talk, I'm guessing you're Luke" He hissed oiut the name.  
" You're right. And I'm guessing you've figured oiut why we've come?" Luke raised an eyebrow.  
"You can go back, Luke. We won't hand her over."  
"Her? Her who?" Valerie, who had been keeping quiet for some time but now she felt she had to speak.  
" Chloe Phillips." Luke answered. " Met her on my way in. And," He spoke to Jeb again." , you know we would've gotten to her first if she hadn't used her ...abilities to bring herself here." Luke changed his sentence mid-way.  
"Exactly. She chose to be here." Jeb pointed out.  
" Jeb, Jeb, Jeb." Luke shook his head." This game? It ain't optional. You just have to go with the flow. It's called fate. But that girl's messing with it. I'm going to say it one last time." His voice took on a dangerous tone." Hand her over."  
" Why don't we ask her ourselves?" Jeb suggested, his voice soundidng equally dangerous. The door hissed open by ourself, and standing behind it wa Chloe.  
" Chloe Phillips." Luke winked at her." Nice to meet you. Again."

Chloe felt a chill run down her spine as the boy with Gordon's eyes looked at her with that weird way. He looked, and seemed, friendly enough, but there was an aura around him that made Chloe want to run in the opposite direction.  
" Come in, Chloe." Jeb didn't ask, he ordered her. Shaking, she entered the room. The atmosphere was cold and hostile. The blonde girl, Iris, Caleb had whispered afterwards, obsereved her and the Asian boy looked at her interestedly , as if she was some kind of specimen.  
" We're having a disagreement, old pops here and I." The boy spoke up." He wants you and we want you. Decide." He summed it up.  
At the look of confusion on Chloe's face, Valerie explained softly." Chloe this is Luke. He has come from RDR. It's an institution like Hive. They want you..."  
"I got it" Chloe snapped suddenly. She was tired of being treated like a child." I'm staying." She stuck her chin out stubbornly.  
" Really, honey? Think ag..." Luke chuckled and started.  
" She's decided. Now you can go and tell Rex that he can get it out of his mind. His plan isn't going to work." Jeb interrupted.  
" I see you've figured it out." Luke's smile was gone." Now you now what this is gonna mean?" Noone answered.  
" I'll answer that by myself. This is going to mean a war. And do you know what war is going to mean?" Again, noone answered.  
" Show a little interest here, peopele." Luke protested." geez, you guys are like brain dead vegetables. War is going to mean chaos." Luke got up." You ahve a week, Jeb." He turned and walked out the door. The asian dude and Iris followed.  
On the way, as he passed Chloe, he smiled at her and winked again.  
For some strange reason, Chloe's heartbeat stopped for a moment under his gaze, and a voice in the back of her mind whispered." Luke." and then it hissed, almost hatingly." Chaos."  
But then he was gone, and so was the weird feeling and the whispering voice in the back of her mind.

Chapter 9: A visit  
When Luke was gone, there was ashouting match over thefate of Chloe.  
" Jeb, we can't fight RDR! You know what happened before." One of the older men, Ben, insisted.  
" We can't hand her over!" Valerie thrust her hand towards Chloe." It's just impossible. If we don't hand her over, they're going to fight us. If we do, then still they're going to fight us."  
" We'll be loosing hundreds just for one girl! one girl, Jeb!" Jane insisted.  
Jeb, who was sitting with his fingers joined in front of him, got up. Everyone fell into silence.  
" I appreciate your concern, Ben and Jane." He said calmly." But I think Rex has taken one step too far. If he thinks we'll hand our students over to him, he's mistaken. my answer to him will remain no, war or not." His eyes flashed, daring them to contradict him. Noone did.  
" Now, Chloe. You can go home with the rest."  
Chloe hurriedly walked out, where she met the rest waiting for her.  
" What happened?" Zoe demanded, worried.  
" Nothing. We should go home." Chloe led them towards the door.  
" Wait!" Sam's voice stopped them. He came running up to them.  
" Change of plans. Chloe, go home. The rest, stay here."  
Noone protested and did as they were told.  
Chloe opened the door and walked through, finding herself back home. She slumped in the couch, tired. Luke's eyes came back to her. She shivered.

Luke was till thinking of Chloe whent he three of them reached the headquarters.  
" She wasn't bad, I guess. Not like I imagined. Kinda cute too." He thought to himself and smiled inwardly. he knew Iris was listening toh is thoguhts and he had deliberately let her. Sure enough, Iris's voice spoke up in his mind.  
" So now you're killerboy to loverboy,eh?" She asked snidely.  
" What? Is it wrong to think about a girl? Or are you just jealous?"  
" Me? Jealous? Of what?" Iris asked innocently.  
" Never mind. Anyway she'll be here soon, and you won't have to put up with me thinking about girls." Luke said.  
" Two things. One, how can you gaurantee she'll come to RDR? And two, you're wrong. If she comes here, you'll drive me crazy thining about her." iris concluded.  
" So don't listen to me." Luke suggested.  
Cursing, iris went away from his mind. Luke chuckled.  
The three of them had been walking down a long corridor, white and chilly. They now stopped in front of a big metal door. There was a fingerprint scanner on one side. Luke put his thumb on the scanner. It flashed once and the door opened. There was another door behind it with a retina scanner. Luke put his eye above the scanner. A red light traced his eye, turned green with a beep and then a female voice spoke up." Welcome to RDR headquarters, Master."  
" Hey, Andy. Guess what happened? I met the girl today." Luke said as he started walking again.  
" Good for you, Master." Andy, the AI computer, said in a formal tone.  
Luke walked down the corridor and stoped in front of a large dor. he raised his hand to knock but just like last time, it opened its own. luke walked in, leaving Iris and Hugo outside.  
It was a dark, comfortable room. There were sofas, a fireplace and even a small bar in a corner. There was a rocking chair near the fireplace on whcih an old man sat. He was bald, his skin old and wrinkled, with a french beard. He was wearing a scarlet robe and was stroking a Persian cat sleeping on his lap.  
" Master." Luke said." i went to Hive..."  
" if you haven't got the girl," Rex interrupted.", thend on't come here. When you've got the girl, come only then."  
" Of course." Luke said surprised, then after some time, left. Rex continued stroking the cat, who purred.

Chloe was walking back and forth the living room aimlessly when a sudden cough made her turn. It was Luke.  
" Hello." he said cheerfully, then ducked as ahuge ceramic bowl came flying towards him and crashed on the wall behind him.  
" Look,..." luke got up and started in a loud voice, then ducked again as this time, the TV remote was thrown at him.  
" Stop it! I just wanna..." Luke said in a loud voice again but he was cut down when a whole aquarium was emptied over him, water, fish and all.  
Spraying water out of his mouth, Luke picked out a fish from his hair.  
" Look here, I just came to talk." he said, flinging the fish away. It hit the wall with a 'splat!' sound.  
" Don't go.. crazy again. I won't hurt you." luke said warily to Chloe, who eyed the wet guy suspiciously. She picked up a decorative sword that was hanging from the wall and pointed it towards him." How did you get in?"  
" I transported myself. Don't bother asking how. it's complicated." Luke cautiously took a step forward. Chloe stepped back.  
" Why are you here?" Chloe asked.  
" I wanted to see you. I mean, what you and I are. It'll be stupid not to." Luke smiled.  
" What?" Chloe frowned. luke looked at her with an amused expression.  
" You know who you and I are and what we can do..." He said in an obvious tone.  
Confused, Chloe shook her head.  
" You don't know?" Luke let out a laugh." They didn't even tell you the truth about you?"  
" tell me." Chloe said.  
" You have something to eat?" Luke asked.  
" uh.. sure." Chloe said, taken by surprise.  
She went in to the kitchen, followed by Luke.  
When he was itting with a sandwich and a coke in front of him, Chloe asked again." Tell me about you and me."  
" Well, it's a ong story." Luke said.  
" i've got all the time in the world." Chloe cut in.  
" i might as well show you." Luke said and reached out with his hand. before Chloe could say anything, she found herself in a dark and damp cave. Luke stood next to her. in front of them stood three was a woman in a black, glittering dress. Her hair, which were black as well, fell down to her waist like a waterfall. One was a bearded man in a long, flowing robe which was white. The third man wore a sharp and sleek suit,looking more like a businessman. Against the wall stood four people, who were watching these three with cautious looks. The three of them were fighting about something, but Chloe couldn't hear them.  
" These three are the three main things that make up our world." Luke spoke up." Chaos." Luke pointed towards the businessman."Time." This time, he pointed at the man in the robe." And Death." he gestured towards the woma." The others, War, falsehood, Wisdom and Truth were also very important."  
" At first, they worked together, like gods, and the world was at peace. But then, they started fighting among themselves over who was more powerful. Their creator, whom I will call Nature," and an old man entered the cave, his face firm and angry. Suddenly, the seven people fell down in a faint.", put a curse on them to punish them. each of themw ere trapped in a mortal for eternity, until they had learned theor lesson. That mortal himself acquired the power of the element inside him. and he couldn't die. He would just be reborn."  
as soon as Luke's voice stopped, they were back in the kitchen. It seemed as if no time had passed.  
" Chloe, you are Death. And I'm Chaos."

Chapter 10: Time  
"No, no, no." Chloe found herself saying." this can't be true."  
" Well, it is. so deal with it." Luke said as he munched on the sandwich.  
" It can't be. It's just stupid..." Chloe shoook her head.  
" how is it stupid?"  
" Me? Death? It can't be"  
" Why not? you might as well just accept it, because we have to find Time." Luke, who had finished the sandwich, looked up at Chloe.  
" Why?"  
"Why?So that we'll have a jolly reunion, that's why. Don't be stupid. Wouldn't you want to know who Time is?" Luke asked.  
" no." Chloe said.  
" let me put it this way. Wouldn't you like to meet the person who can change your future and controls your every move?"  
it quickly came to Choe." the man in my dreams..." She muttered.  
" Who?"  
Chloe quickly told him about the garden and the man in her dream. An uncomfortable look passed over Luke's face.  
" That's what I think." Luke said when Chloe had finished." Time is the bad one. we have to find him."  
"How?"  
" I'll google him up." At the look of con fusion on Chloe's face, Luke chuckled." I'm kidding. I'll search up names maybe.."  
" no." Chleo interrupted." how is Time bad?"  
" Time is meant to be. I mean, the guy has control over evrything. He could change history. you expect he's gonna be Mr Nice-Guy about that?"  
Chloe didn't answer. Luke got up.  
" Ill come back and tell you if anything comes up. Thanks for the sandwich." And just like that, he dissapeared.

Over the next few days, Chloe was alone in the house. She had no idea what was going on at Hive, and noone from Hive came to check on her. A few times, she thought of going through the backdoor to Hive, but then decided against it.  
All that time, Luke entertained her. He was still searching for Time, but he never forgot to visit Chloe. After he visited for the third time, Chloe changed her view about him. he was so funny and sweet, it was hard not to like him. He reminded Chloe of Gordon and she would feel homesick. But she knew that what was in the past couldn't coem back.  
but she wished like hell that Gordon would come.

The cat sat on the bench calmely, licking its paws. the cool wind ruffled its hair and the trees' leaves above the bench rustled in a low voice. The dark sky above housed a full moon. An occassional hoot of an owl interrupted the silence but mostly no noise was to be heard.  
A sharp crunching of leaves stoppped the cat in mid-action. It's pupils widened, and it turned slowly to find the source of the sound.  
A dark figure appeared all of a sudden next to the bench. Startled, the cat darted off the bench and dissapeared into a nearby bush. The wind seemed to have stopped blowing.  
" not much of an entry. Thought you would be much more ... dramatic." A low, amused voice mused. The figure turned in time to see Gordon emerge from behind a tree, smirking.  
" you're late, by the way. We agreed on midnight. It's 1 aM." Gordon pointed at his wristwatch. The dark figure didn't reply, and moved on to sit on the bench previously occupied by the cat.  
" Got held up." luke replied shortly." things are going a bit out of control between Hive and RDR. Seems as if ther is going to be a war."  
Gordon was still smiling." And you had nothing to with this?"  
" nothing whatsoever." Luke said, meeting Gordon's eyes defensively.  
" tell me again why I don't believe a word you're saying?"Gordon's smile faded." I know what you're doing. Don't think I haven't learned abit, if not a lot, about you."  
" get to the did you ask me to meet you?"  
" A warning." gordon replied." drag your pitiful master into war and do the hell you want but stay away from Chloe." Gordon's eyes angered. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and trudged down the hill.  
luke watched the dissapearing figure of Gordon.  
" time for action, I think." he muttered softly and just like before, vanished into thin air.  
The cat, who had been watching this from the bush, slowly returned to the bench and continued licking its paws. The wind continued blowing and the leaves rustled again, almost as if nothing had happened.

" So, how were the headquarters?" Chloe asked.  
" Awesome. We met other people like us and it turns out Sam hasn't been telling us alot of things." Rodney said excitedly."Like did you know there were onc eonly two of our kind? And there is anoter place like Hive, called RDR? They're suppose to be our enmeies and we've had this war with them, and alot of people were killed. And there are these people who hunt people like us, which is why half os us don't have parents. They're like anti-hive slash RDR..." Rodney went on, showing no signs of stopping.  
" hold on.' Chloe waved a hand." What about the war going on right now?"  
" that?" rodney said carelessly.  
" it's going on, like before. And then, did you know that the founder of HIve had.."  
" We're having frequent attacks at out headquarters and other training zones all over the world." Lance cut in, stopping Rodney's rambling.  
" YeAH" Rodney added, finally turning his attention to the war." jeb's given us gaurd duties and securities at the headquarters is pretty tight. but still ,there have been a few breaches. Alot have been injured nad some didn't survive."  
" valerie suspects that the main attack will be in two to three weeks." Caleb took over." Hopefully, our defensive systemis good. Anyway, jeb sent us back to keep an eye on you and not let anyone in."  
" you mean, not let anybody out." Chloe wanted to say but kept silent. She had bigger things to worry about. If valerie was right, then Chloe had only three weeks to find Time.  
Her visions had continued, but this time they were different. Chloe always had a dream when someone was going to die, beforehand, and now she was ahving dreams about her own death.  
It was always the same empty room. The same table in front of her, the same blank wall in her view. The same feeling of panic, worry, anger but most of all, power. And the same noise, everytime. Screaming, yelling, shouting.  
And after this, she always found herself back in the park, with the young man sitting next to her on the bench. he didn't talk now, just sat there mute. he alwaYs had that same sad, desolate look on his face and Chloe would wonder ab out him.  
It was during this that Chloe had gotten an idea. If Time could control everything, then maybe he could stop the war and prevent unncessary killing. All Chloe had to do was figure out who Time was, find him and convince him.  
But of course it wasn't as easy at it sounded. Time was not so friendly, as people kept reminding her, she thought glumly as she listenedgloomily to Rodney ramble on.

The young man finally spoke up." I see a lot has been going on since we last talked." He said.  
" yeah." Chloe said." Rodney, Caleb and Lance came to check on me for a day. They were called back by HIve again, so I'm all alone again."  
" And so continues Luke's visits?" the young man raised an eybrow at Chloe, who didn't know what to say.  
" Don't get to comfortable, Chloe. Luke could be the bad one." The man continued as Chloe remained silent.  
" he's not like that." Chloe protested." he's not bad."  
The young man clicked his tongue.  
There was another moment of silence when a foreboding thoguht clicked in CHloe's mind.  
" What if i'm the bad one?"  
The young man closed his eyes." Do you think you could kill lots of people just for the sake of killing? for power?"  
And then, it happened. Something woke up ion Chloe's mind, like an actual person had been sleeping and the man's sentence had woken that person up.  
" yes. For power." The person hissed, and Chloe recognised the voice as the one that had murmured when she first saw Luke. For the first time, Chloe felt scared.  
" no, I won't" Chlow said, more to the voice than to the man, who smiled sadly.  
" Then you're not the bad one." He said but his voice sounded far away as Chloe fought the stabbing pain in her head that emerged when the voice hissed again.  
" So have you found anything ABout Time?" Chloe asked, fighting the pain in her head.  
The young man thought for a moment.  
Slowly, he said." I know who Time is."  
He closed his eyes.

Gordon opened his eyes and smiled to himself.  
" Fun." the deep voice in his head murmured.  
" Fun indeed. We are back." Gordon replied in his head.  
" Luke will be getting the surpirse of his lifetime.  
" Chaos. " Time grunted. Kill Chaos. Kill Death.  
" Yes. Kill them".


End file.
